S. Pasadena Begins Review of Police Chief’s Performance

South Pasadena’s former city manager provided new details Thursday about a controversial hit-and-run crash involving a police officer who is the son-in-law of the former mayor, and city officials began a review of Police Chief Thomas Mahoney’s management of his department.

An initial police report obtained by The Times omits the name of the driver of a Camaro that hit a parked Honda last September in South Pasadena and then drove off. The report shows that the Camaro was registered to Ted Shaw, a former city councilman and mayor. An amended police report obtained Thursday now shows the driver to have been Shaw’s son-in-law, Scott Ziegler.

After inquiries from The Times this week, Mahoney said he was opening an investigation of the incident.

Former South Pasadena City Manager Ken Farfsing said Thursday that Mahoney had told him last year that the owner of the Honda, Marisa Colatriano, had been paid for the damage to her vehicle by Ziegler or his insurance company.

But Colatriano reiterated Thursday that she was never paid for the $550 in damage.

“How could I have been paid?” she asked. “I never knew who hit my car.”

She said police had told her they did not know the identity of the driver. Finally, earlier this week, Ziegler called her and offered to pay for the damage, Colatriano said.

“I was led to believe it was minor damage,” Farfsing said. “I was surprised to read [in] The Times’ report that the officer just came forward. I thought it had been taken care of.”

Mahoney could not be reached for comment Thursday. A desk officer said the chief did not come into the office Thursday. Ziegler did not return repeated calls to his home.

The developments come on the heels of a scandal involving a 27-year-old woman who said she had sex with two on-duty officers. Mahoney said he did not know about the misconduct until February, when the woman, Theresa Goldston, fired a gun from the department lobby.

“I think he should be very concerned,” one senior city official said of Mahoney.

Goldston said she used the department’s firing range and gym. An internal investigation begun after the February shooting led to one officer’s dismissal and another’s resignation. The dismissed officer, Robert Mesch, has branded the handling of the car collision a “cover-up.”

Mahoney told the City Council Wednesday night that the vast majority of his department did nothing wrong in the Goldston case. Goldston has filed a claim against the city, which was discussed in closed session of the council Wednesday night.

On Thursday, interim City Manager Linda Holmes said she had begun a review of Mahoney’s leadership of the department. She declined to provide any details.